Rage beneath the machine

Previous research has demonstrated that disrespect sensitivity plus anger rumination (DSAR) predicts outcomes congruent with sadistic motivation (such as positive affect in response to target harm) in pranking contexts. Because “successful” pranksters often appear giddy rather than overtly hostile, we conducted three studies involving 990 Canadian undergraduates based on the idea that DSAR-related hostility could be operating outside of awareness. When controlling for overlap among humour styles, DSAR predicted greater self-reported use of self-defeating but not aggressive humour (Study 1). Higher DSAR pranksters/observers (but not victims) perceived more happiness than anger in an art interpretation task by default but more anger than happiness when pranks were salient (Study 2). Contrary to their assertions, higher DSAR scorers’ word fragment and projective test responses suggested implicit hostile/dominant tendencies but inhibition of overt aggression in the neutral condition that shifted to disinhibition and mirthless interpersonal detachment when pranks were salient (Study 3). Thus, at least among those most at risk for manifesting sadistic motivation, latent hostility may be overlooked amidst prank-related celebrations. This apparent implicit/overt discrepancy should be considered when designing interventions for minimizing the occurrence of sadistically motivated harm.